You may think you are done with all the shopping but the sales after the holidays can be the best time of year to make purchases!

You can save hundreds of dollars just by shopping after the holidays as opposed to before. This is the time to stock up on items you will need for next Christmas as well as items that can be used throughout the year for other holidays and events.

Here are the items I pick up in after Christmas sales:

Wrapping Paper – Buy solids that can be used for birthdays and other events throughout the year.

Gift Bags

Gift Card Holders

Ornaments

Tape

Clothing

Games

Holiday Decor

Chocolate and Candy

What do you buy after the holidays?

Photo By:Jay Lopez

The Frugal Home wishes you a very Happy Holiday and hopes that you enjoy your leftovers as much as you enjoy the main meal! Wishing you a very happy and frugal weekend!

Here are the recipes I made this year with the leftovers from Thanksgiving :

Turkey and Rice Soup –  I’ll need to look this recipe up and add it layer, I don’t think I got a picture yet either!

Tex Mex Corn Chowder

Turkey Burgers

Turkey Enchiladas

Whatchagot Soup

Turkey Leftovers from prior years:

Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers

Moo Shu Turkey Tostadas

Thanksgiving Personal Layer Pie

Turkey Noodle Soup

Frugal Tips for Turkey Burgers with Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey

This may be my new favorite way to use up leftover turkey. I’m sure it would work for chicken as well but I don’t know if it would have as much flavor. These freeze well too.

Turkey Burgers

Gather It Up!

Leftover Turkey

Leftover Dressing or Stuffing

Onions

Cook It Up!

Grind the turkey up in a food grinder if you have one, I just used my blender. Mix the onions and turkey with the leftover dressing and form into patties. Fry in a little bit of oil or bake in the oven.

Serve It Up!

I’m sure these would be great on a bun but I just wrapped mine in a lettuce leaf.

For More Recipes:

2 Month Meal Plan
Cheap Healthy Recipes
Great Breakfast Recipes
Frugal Lunch Recipes
Cheap Dinner Recipes
Leftovers Recipes
Frugal Soup Recipes
Frugal Sides, Snacks and Appetizers

Frugal Christmas gifts are even better when you are giving a unique gift that will surprise those opening your presents! Here are some great gifts under $25!

Betta Fish – This is a unique and fun gift to give! Purchase a large glass globe, rocks, a vine, a jar of food and a betta fish for a great gift that will keep on giving. Just make sure that you are giving it to someone who will take care of it!

Personalized gifts – Skip the monogrammed hand towels and go for the personalized Monopoly game.

Give a tree or potted herbed plants – This is a great gift for the eco-conscious and herbs are often easy to take care of.

Foods for those with food allergies – Allergy free foods are often very expensive and those on a budget may not be able to splurge on foods they can eat. Put together a gift basket full of their favorite allergy free foods. I have been given gluten free pizza crust, noodles, and brownies along with Dairy free sour cream and cream cheese. As these items are expensive, I will often just do without them so getting them as a gift was a pure pleasure!

Unique cook books – Instead of getting a general cook book go for one that is ingredient specific such as a cookbook all about bacon or cooking with Spam! Another option is to pick up old cookbooks at flea markets and give them as a retro gift.

Flea markets and Etsy – Etsy is a great website to find frugal and unique Christmas gifts and you may be surprised at what you can find at a flea market or antique mall. One of my favorite gifts of all time was an antique platter that my Mom got me for Christmas one year.

Save money and give great gifts! What frugal gifts are you giving this year?

Check out these great articles to save money at Christmas and throughout the holiday season!

Frugal Christmas Gifts

Cheap Christmas Gifts to Purchase

Frugal Christmas Gifts You Can Make

Christmas Gifts Under $10

Frugal Christmas Trees – Cheap Ornaments

Frugal Christmas Tree

More frugal holiday articles below! While these articles may not help you this year, they can next year!

Create a Gift Budget

Start Saving For Christmas in January

Look for after-Christmas sales and stock up on items like wrapping paper, gift tags, and gift card holders. I will often pick up a few ornaments to give away the next year as well. I love to give an ornament with a gift card or just as an add-on gift and I was able to pick up several awesome ones for about 25 cents each this year!

Set up a holiday account, whether through a holiday account at your bank, in your regular savings, or even a shoebox in your closet! Think about how much you spent this year at Christmas, divide it into ten or eleven months (depending on when you start Christmas shopping), and start saving each month. Sitting back your holiday money will make you feel so much better when the holidays roll around next year as you won’t have to stress about coming up with the money in the middle of all of the holiday parties, events, and big payments such as end-of-the-year taxes.

Save what you can, even ten bucks a month will give you $100 in ten months. You could at least buy gifts for your kids or closest loved ones.

Do yourself a favor and put a little thought into Christmas this January and you won’t have to put so much thought and stress into it when the time comes!

One of the most important aspects of having a frugal holiday would be to pay cash in the month of December. Hopefully, you have already saved for Christmas but if you haven’t you may want to seriously consider cutting back to what you can actually afford. Check out these articles to help you save money this December!

A Frugal Christmas Tree

Cheap Ornaments

Christmas Gifts Under $10

It is not difficult to create a gift budget and it may take you under an hour to make a gift budget for the entire year. Grab your calendar and make a list of all the birthdays, anniversaries, and special events you buy a gift for every year. Create a separate list of everyone you give a card to throughout the year, but do not give a gift. Decide how much you would like to spend on each person. Place a gift amount into your monthly budget based on how many people you have to buy for and how much you plan to spend. Save this amount every month. When you need to purchase a gift, use some of the money you have saved. Make sure to only spend the amount you have allotted per person.

Your gift budget should leave space (and cash!) for unexpected gifts. Unexpected gifts that need to be worked into your gift budget may be for graduations, baby gifts, wedding gifts, or gifts for new friends made during the year.

Gift Budget Plan

Frugal Christmas Gifts to Purchase

Frugal Christmas Gifts to Make

Frugal Christmas Gifts Under $10

Would you like to write for The Frugal Home? Do you know of some ideas on having a cheap Christmas season that you would like to share? Would you like to be a Frugal Home contributor? Check out our Contributor Page!

Check the dollar sections at stores. These items can range from calendars to fun socks for a cheap Christmas.

Shop year-round for the best items. Many of these items can be used as the actual gift or as a stocking stuffer for your frugal gifts.

Look through clearance aisles for nice items that have been drastically reduced when shopping for a cheap Christmas. This is another place to shop throughout the year.

Give ornaments as gifts for a cheap Christmas. This is great for young couples who may not have many holiday decorations or for gender neutral gifts.

Search for a cheap magazine subscription. Many magazines can be found for $10 and will be great frugal gifts that keeps on giving throughout the whole year!

Gift cards can often be bought in various increments. Give $5 gift cards to fast food restaurants for a cheap Christmas present everyone will love.

Search flea markets and antique stores for inexpensive yet distinctive gifts.

Garage sales are a great way to get expensive items for next to nothing when having cheap Christmas gift exchanges.

Shop online sites such as craigslist.org or ebay.com.